


Stranger in the rain

by Philosopher_of_fandoms



Category: NCT (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band), SuperM (Korea Band), WAYV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Genie/Djinn, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Character Death, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/M, Female Reader, Fluffy bits, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mild Blood, Mild Smut, Minor Character Death, OH SHIT I FORGOT THE SLOW BURN TAG MY DUMBASS, Slow Burn, Suicidal Thoughts, Ten is a sarcastic little shit as usual, Tsundere Lee Taeyong, daemon taeyong, demon taeyong, depression demon is an antogonist that's all im gonna say, djinn Ten, i promise its not as dark as it sounds, my cat keeps walking over my keyboard while i write this and it's problematic, nct angst, nct fluff, nct smut, taeyong is a bit of a tsundere, taeyong isn't really in character but who cares
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 13:37:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21037097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Philosopher_of_fandoms/pseuds/Philosopher_of_fandoms
Summary: Although now viewed as myths, Beings of greater power still walk among us today. They go by many names and are of many things however all have coined themselves as The Immortales. Taeyong wants nothing more than to exist on his own whims and remain peaceful in his area, undetected by the humans around him and free to do as he wishes. But as more and more Immortales scold him for not keeping watch of the humans in his territory and he begins to notice how a dark presence has begun to drain at his energy and the energy of those who live on his land, he sets out to protect and stop whatever the force is, planning on doing so by protecting in person the presences’ next target– you.Alternatively: Your dumbass has gotten into trouble and demon Taeyong has to drag you out of it.





	1. Prologue

“You always watch her.”

Taeyong casually looked to his side to see his friend, Ten appear beside him. “Don’t make me sound like a creep God who preys on mortals, I watch all the humans in the area,” he said casually. “Not just her. And I get equally as concerned whenever I see one pass by for days on end looking miserable.”

“Do you, now?” Ten said a hint of amusement on his face. “Taeyong’s actually protecting the mortals of his territory? What’s that phrase I heard some mortal girls using a little while ago?” His lips curled into a mischievous grin as he remembered. “I’m shook.”

Taeyong’s face cringed in disgust, and the Djinn laughed at the sight before shaking his head. “But this one,” Ten cooed, “this one you’ve been more attentive to. Why?”

Taeyong tilted his head, sighing and searching his brain for a semi plausible answer to give to the Djinn before finally shrugging his shoulders and going with the truth. “I’m being harassed by others to hurry up and protect someone already, lend my powers for the greater good and do something,” he grouched. “Help mortals like I used to. In short, I’ve been accused of being called lazy. Oh, don’t look at me like that, it’s not my fault my area hardly has any trouble or interesting problems.” He shot a gust of air into Ten’s face and the Djinn leapt back, laughing. “Not all of us enjoying being trapped in bottles. Anyway, look at her. You’ll see what’s caught my interest.”

Ten sighed but focused on the girl walking, brow furrowing as he began to realize what Taeyong was concerned about. “She’s marked,” he breathed. Taeyong nodded, eyes focused on the girl. She walked quickly, wind blowing in her face and she let out a slight squeak as she nearly tripped, keeping a tight grip on her bag. If the two Beings looked closely enough, past just the mortal shell and into her soul they could see the dark marking, like smog on her aura that floated around her.

“Indeed. Something, some malevolent spirit has decided she’ll be fun to feed off of, to torment. Only problem is, despite me looking for the creature for weeks, I can’t find it. It’s some lecherous shadow that’s sucking her soul away and I’d rather not have it terrorize the humans in my area. Bad for everyone and it drains my energy.”

Ten nodded. “Was this the one that resulted in the old man’s suicide?”

Taeyong pursed his lips. “... Yes. I didn’t realize until it was too late but now… I have no intention of letting another human die. From the looks of it, the thing has been leaching off of her soul for a few weeks now. If I find the marking on her body and get rid of it, hopefully I can banish it before it gets too powerful. It’s only killed one that I know of thankfully so it can’t be too strong just yet. Still, it’s a menace.”

“I thought nothing interesting happened?” Ten smirked at Taeyong, that characteristic, mischievous grin dancing across his face. Taeyong kept his gaze neutral, ignoring it.

“It didn’t up until recently. Now if you’ll excuse me, shut up and let me watch her.”

Ten’s lips curled further and he opened his mouth, no doubt to say something witty before he’d stumbled back, laughing as he was hit with a gust of wind by Taeyong.


	2. Chapter I

It was safe to say the day was becoming shittier and shitter.

You didn’t know why such a rotten string of luck had overcome you recently, from the death of a close friend- an old man who’d been kind to you when you’d first moved in but had recently committed suicide- in your apartment building to the drop in your grades and then nearly losing your job. Despite it all, you’d tried to stay positive. But now, as you ran, late for class because somehow your clock had stopped working, you were this much closer to a mental breakdown. You prided yourself on having a relatively good coping mechanism when it came to things like stress, but nowadays… You didn’t know why but it was just so much easier to be emotionally battered these past few months. It seemed as if some lecherous Being had latched itself onto you and slowly had begun to drain you of any motivation or happiness. It wasn’t too serious, you had convinced yourself at the moment, but you also knew that if you continued to feel like this, over time even simple things would be soul sucking.

Shaking your head of your thoughts however, you dashed the final corner, thanking the fact that the bus stop was in sight, speeding up. Perhaps things wouldn’t be so terrible today and you would arrive on time-

Your feet tripped on a large crack in the sidewalk and your threadbare computer bag, and all of its belongings went flying, hitting the ground with a sickening thud, bouncing twice before rolling bumpily onto the road, right into the middle of traffic.

You stared in horror at the sight of your computer and all of your files, notes and information crashing into the hard pavement and landing only to be rolled over by the incoming bus. There was a horrific crunch that came from the technology as all 25 thousand pounds of the bus rolled over your computer.

“Oh my god,” you whispered to yourself at the sight of your bag being rolled over. When the driver of the bus saw you clearly weren’t going to get on the bus he shrugged and closed the doors, the bus rolling away quickly. You felt sick, and quickly grabbed the bag off of the street, cringing at dirt marks the large tires left on it. “Please be alright. Please be alright.” The bag was intact- maybe the computer could be as well?

You swallowed; dubious anything could survive crashing into the ground three times before being run over by a bus.

And indeed, after you had tentatively opened the bag, terrified to see what had happened to your precious computer you’d let out a groan of dismay of the sight, the monitor ruined, not just cracked but only half attached to the computer as you opened it up. The keyboard was ruined, keys falling off with ease and you tried not to think of the damage done to the hard drive or circuits during the time it had bounced and rolled. You winced and tried to start it up. After four tries and no results, you concluded that it was wrecked.

“Oh god,” you muttered to yourself. The computer had been a gift from your parents when you’d turned seventeen. Yes, it wasn’t the newest, flashiest model out there but you’d grown fond of it especially since your parents had ordered the parts you’d specifically wanted so you could build it on your own. It’d quickly become your pride and joy out of all of yourself made electronics and now, after a good month of hard work putting together the machinery it was ruined. You doubted you could bring it to a repair store. A small bit of you hoped you’d be able to fix it at home but one look at it and you could tell it was near hopeless. The best you could do was possibly retrieve your files off of the hard drive and maybe, if you were lucky, be able to retrieve the RAM. But as for the other bits… You sighed softly, trying to think of any place that would take broken and used computer parts for a fair price.

“Okay, it’s okay,” you told yourself quietly to prevent tears as you remember just how much of your life was stored on the machine. “I’m sure we can get it fixed and… I’m sure the professor won’t be teaching anything too important today.” You swallowed, remembering how you had fallen behind in class work and readings and took a deep breath. “Not the end of the world,” you told yourself. “I can… get the notes from someone and I can get this fixed. I hope.”

Letting out a miserable sigh you collected any spare pieces that had been part of your computer that you could see and made sure that they were safely in your bag. Gingerly, you carried it back to your apartment; a small hole in the wall on the second floor that you’d managed to make cozy despite the generally poor condition of the building. The state of the building had been preferable for you as it helped lower debt but that didn’t make you feel any less comfortable walking through it at times. The landlords were sweet enough people but they themselves didn’t have enough funds to do drastic aesthetic changes to the building, especially since even though it was old and looked grimy, it was still well functional. The rent (of course) was still horrible but you worked hard to juggle your finances, doing rather well in your opinion to stay afloat. However, with you nearly losing your job and the now broken computer, it wouldn’t take much… You shook your head scolding yourself. Thinking like that wouldn’t help you.

You entered your apartment and quickly set out to looking up locations of hard and software repair. You bit your lip nervously, knowing this could be expensive. But at this point you were desperate, there was no way you’d be able to fix this on your own. You scrolled through multiple pages and sites, eventually settling on the most reputable and ones that were the closest.

With a sigh you grabbed the bag holding your computer remains and headed out to the repair stores, hopes high. By now, your mood had become slightly cheerful, the threat of tears spilling down your cheeks no longer quite so prominent. “This’ll be fine,” you hummed to yourself. “It’s going to work out great, I just know it.”

Three stores later with no luck, you felt far less sure of yourself.

“Please,” you begged to the tall man across the counter as he stared in shock at the remains of the machine. The charisma he’d had when you first walked into the store had evaporated quickly at the sight of your computer and with it, your confidence. “I know it’s a total mess but you’ve got to help me. I’ve got everything on here and I’ve tried all I can to fix it but…” you tossed up your hands uselessly. “I don’t have the experience or resources to fix something with this level of damage. If it’s any help I did make the computer so I can help with the system but I really can’t fix something like this.”

The tall man looked at the broken parts of the computer, jaw slightly agape. “What happened to it?” He finally managed to get out as he shifted slightly through the pieces in half awe, half horror. You blushed at the question.

“I- well,” you stammered, face heating before mumbling out, “it got run over by a bus.”

“It  _ what _ ?” The man—Johnny, for that was what his name tag said—blurted out in disbelief. You nodded miserably and his lips pursed, shaking his head.

“A bus,” you said, voice small. “Right after I tripped and it went flying out of my bag and crashed into the road.”

The look of abject horror on Johnny’s face made you want to run back into your bed and never face the world again. “A bus?” He asked. “After you tripped and it flew out of your bag and onto the road?”

“I know,” you wailed. “It’s a mess. Is there seriously no way I can fix it?”

“Well, it got run over by a bus to start with,” Johnny said seriously, brow knotted. “The monitor is busted, not just the screen but the whole monitor is fully gone. It’d be better if you would just buy a new one to replace it- the only problem is that this is made up of parts of a model that, yes, you made, but has parts that are no longer for sale by main companies. I’m sure you could eventually get new parts but it might be hard to find them, and also expensive. And practically speaking, at the shape this is in, it’d be better for you to just buy a new computer altogether.”

You must have wilted visibly because his face twisted into sympathy. “Sorry,” he added quickly. “It’s awful that this happened, from the looks of it, it must have been a nice computer. But the hardware is...” he picked through it and winced at a particularly destroyed fragment. “Done for.”

“Well,” you said desperately. “What about the memory? Is there any way you can get the hard drive or any other data? The RAM? Or ROM? Honestly at this point, anything is better than nothing. Please, I have so much of my schoolwork saved there that I don’t have anywhere else. I will literally fail university if I don’t get this thing working again.”

“You didn’t save your work anywhere else?” He asked and you shook your head miserably. 

“Earlier drafts of the projects but I’ve kinda been rushing the past while and haven’t really thought about backup copies…” You trailed off, more miserable than ever.

Johnny sighed and shook his head. “The program isn’t even opening, I think the internal hardware might be damaged as well. If it’s not, then the software should be in good enough condition but you’d only be left with a memory disk- you’d need a whole new computer to transfer your files onto something somewhere.” He gave you an attempt of a smile, clearly sympathizing with you. “Hey, you can tell your prof about this. I’m sure they’ll be understanding and help you as best they can. Are you a good student? You’ll be fine I’m sure.”

You let out an empty laugh as his words washed over you. “Maybe.” You gazed reproachfully at the computer bits. “How much would it cost if I paid you to retrieve the software? At least that way I’ve got something.”

Johnny’s face remained grim. “I can’t tell right now from the look of things but… it’s possible the disk got busted as well, and if I can’t get the computer running it’d be pretty hard to get that data off onto another file. And if I could, it’d take weeks, even months to do so with the level of damage this has. That and I can’t guarantee anything and I don’t want to waste your money. And you have to remember, even if I get everything back it’s going to be expensive… actually wait, let’s see. What’s your budget?”

You bit your lip nervously thinking for a second how much you’re willing to spare before giving him a number and he winced.

“It’d cost a lot more than that,” he said, shifting around slightly. You let out a groan of dismay.

“How much?”

“Enough that buying a whole new computer would be a better decision. You don’t have any insurance for this, right?”

When you shake your head no, he sighs and nods in understanding.

“Look, I’m really sorry but I don’t think we’ll be able to help you here. Take this from a fellow Uni student- you’d be better starting fresh with a new computer. I’m sure your prof will be understanding. But seriously, this would be a waste of time and effort to go back to this computer. Consider it and it’s content gone.”

You stayed silent, miserably soaking in his words and trying to not start crying right in front of him. He gave you a sympathetic smile and speaks, voice soft.

“I’m really sorry. If you have any other problems with tech that aren’t as serious or have any questions, feel free to come back. Things’ll get better though, I’m sure.”

You nodded numbly, not really absorbing his words. “Thank you,” you said, voice cracking slightly as you began to sweep the computer pieces back into your bag. “I really appreciate the help.”

He nodded grimly as you slung your bag over your shoulder and trudged towards the exit. “Have a good day, miss!” He calls out to you, voice gentle and caring. You’re too upset to do anything but give him a slight wave of goodbye, too swept up in the misery of the circumstances.

As soon as you stepped out of the shop, the hot wetness of tears collided with your cheeks. There was no way you’d be able to do this anymore. You wiped at your eyes furiously, feeling rain beginning to drip down from the skies, fast and cool, kissing and calming the hot pavement, soothing the heat the way one soothes their lover’s panic.

But as beautiful as the rain was, it just added to your misery.

“Fuck.” You whispered, lips trembling as cold drops came splashing down, soaking through the cloth of your clothes and onto your head. The drops hit you and felt as harsh as the reality you’d been plunged into. Your throat tightened as you quickly moved to run back to your apartment and you whispered to yourself; “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.”

By the time you had made it half a block, having gone through the park that was now mostly empty, void of people for they had gone to seek shelter.

You trudged through the rain on a stone path, rain mixing with your tears, at this point soaking you entirely. The rain was icy now and it’s cold kiss was slowly seeping into your bones and you shuddered slightly, your pace slowing as you tired. 

“Nearly home,” you muttered to yourself as the rain soaked you, shivering. But your feet moved slower and slower with each step as the longer you trudged, the longer you thought and realized what a mess you were in. You couldn’t afford any of this to happen. You could barely afford your apartment and school, let alone a new computer. Not to mention how this essentially ensured you failing your course. And now you were alone in the rain when you just wanted to be at home and pretend none of this was happening. 

“Fuck,” you choked out and crouched down, cradling your face in your hands as desperation came over you. The dark, horrible feeling grew in you, twisting and stretching through your veins. “Fuck!” You shouted, wondering why the world was against you before letting out a whimper as the tears came out full force. Your fingers shook as you drew out your phone, needing to talk to someone, your parents, friends, anyone. But as you tried to open it you realized that somehow, during the time you were out looking for someone who could fix your computer, your phone had died. 

“Oh,” you said quietly as you stared at the blinking empty battery sign on the screen and unsteadily put the phone back into your wet bag, feeling yourself crumple a little bit inside at the realization there was no one there to talk with you. You wrapped your arms tightly around your legs, rocking back and forth slowly, a painful ball in your throat. “Oh.”

“God, I need help,” you whispered to no one after a moment. “I just need someone to help me, please.” You slowly fell back into a sitting position, feeling the cold run up your spine and you buried your face in your knees, sobbing. “Please,” you whispered as you felt yourself slowly shrink more and more into yourself as you sat, words swallowed up by the patter of the rain. “Someone help me please. I just-- I- I’m- I’m so alone.”

No one answered. The fear and hurt in your chest soon turned into prickly anger. “Fine then!” You shouted out into the rain, not caring for anything but the anger and hopelessness in your chest at your situation. “Don’t help me,” you spat before shivering, teeth shattering, knowing you didn’t mean those words, that help was all you wanted at the moment. You knew you should get up-- you wanted to, so badly. To go and return to the safety of your home. But you were too tired to move anymore and as you slowly became colder and colder, your eyes lowering slightly, you wondered what would happen if you just fell asleep here, in the freezing cold rain. There was an alluring darkness in the cold, that was biting and sweet. It wasn’t necessarily a pleasant feeling as it dragged you closer and closer towards it but at this point, it was easier to succumb to it than resist. You let out a quiet, resigned sigh and closed your eyes feeling the claws of the darkness sink into your soul.

And then, a man’s voice rang out from above you.

“Interesting.”

You opened your eyes, startled, the voice dragging you out of the cold, sleepy grip that had you only moments ago. You looked up blearily, the rain dripping into your eyes and stared at the figure to the right of you, bewildered, and then stunned at the sight of the man before you.

“What is?” You asked, eyes sweeping his frame, taken aback and made wary by his sudden appearance.

The man was beautiful, no, stunning, but odd in his nature. Sharp angular lines met smooth skin and moulded together to look like Roman marble. In his hand was a red umbrella, a warm sight in the shadows of the rain that protected the both of you from the storm. His hair, which was ashy grey but not unappealing, formed into a mullet. The mullet, you decided, was an absolutely disgusting hairstyle on him (like mullets tended to be on the majority of the population) and you weren’t entirely sure what possessed someone as handsome as him to wear a hairstyle like that. Perhaps it was because he knew that even with the atrocity of a hairstyle he still looked ethereal. 

But despite his immense beauty and the laughable hairstyle, the sight of him wasn’t enough to lift your spirits, only rouse yourself fully awake at the potential danger he could pose. What kind of person approached a crying girl in the rain? Most would mind their own business, especially if she was soaking wet and curled in a ball on the ground. Anyone like that might seem as more trouble than one was worth. You gazed at him warily, unsure if you’d seen him before and trying to figure out how he had appeared so suddenly.

“You are. It’s very rare to find someone sitting in the pouring rain, even if it does look like they’ve been crying. You’re utterly soaked.” He clicked his tongue and shook his head critically and you felt a rise of heat rush up to your cheeks in embarrassment. “Are you not cold?”

“I don’t think there’s anyone who isn’t cold in this weather,” you replied stiffly and he chuckled.

“I‘m not. Then again, I don’t feel much of those sorts of things, no need to. My kind, particularly me, sees no need in being affected by such trivial things like temperature, especially when they can be so detrimental. We just choose to not let it affect us.”

You blinked up at him, bewildered and a touched alarmed at his words and the sheer oddity of them. ‘His kind’? ‘Not let it affect him’? Did he just mean he ignored it? You were quickly becoming less and less enthralled with the ash haired man despite of how well dressed he was. Not that you were very enthralled with him to begin with. 

“Right,” you said awkwardly and slowly moved your way up off the ground, keeping your eyes on him in case of any sudden attack. “That’s nice for you then sir. Sorry for getting in your way, but I’ll be going now-“ you let out a sudden screech as you slipped on the wet dirt, tensing up to hit the ground when a firm hand grabbed your elbow and straightened you before you can fall.

“Careful,” the man hummed gently. “How on earth am I to protect you when you’re falling within the first minute of us conversing?” He shook his head mildly, an odd look forming upon his face. Amusement?

“I’m sorry?” You asked as you began to fully comprehend his words. There was something in you that was telling you that this man wasn’t normal, as if he had been born on a different plane of existence and the longer your eyes met the more disarmed you felt. “Protect me?”

He nodded, eyes warm and you couldn’t help but feel your heart flutter at the sight of them so close to yours. “Yes, protect you- drat, how do I explain this to you humans now, you’ve stopped believing in us so easily. I suppose... I can just do this.”

He pulled away and set down the umbrella, the rain falling freely on both of your heads. You tensed slightly, feeling the rain hit and remind you of how cold you were until the feeling suddenly stopped. You looked around, bewildered at the sudden stop of the downpour and then took in a breath of startlement as you saw the rain around you floating. No longer cascading down from the sky but rather halted, pearls of water hovering in the dark grey air all around you. 

The water that had been stuck to you soon separated off, joining the droplets in the air and you gaped in awe at the sight and realization that you were utterly dry now. It was electrifying, seeing what was happening, and utterly terrifying.

You turned to stare at the man, and he gave you a smirk, letting the rain fall everywhere except where the two of you stood. You reached your hand out to the rain cautiously and the rain parted, not a drop hitting you. You blinked, trying to understand what you were seeing before staring at him.

“This is you?” You asked cautiously and he gave a smug shrug.

“Oh no, he responded airily, “the rain just naturally floats in the air on its own.”

You nodded along with his words, still reeling from the events happening.

“Right,” you said dumbly, trying to say something. “Of course it does. Uhm. Okay. Why are you protecting me? Are you? Sweet lord, this can't be real.”

At the question, the man’s face turned somber. “It is,” his voice turning darker. “Allow me to be frank-- you’ve been targeted I’m afraid. There is a creature that is set out to consume you and suck at your soul until you drive yourself to your doom, and I’m here to ensure that you remain safe. To do that, I must watch over you constantly and catch this creature. You understand of course.”

At his words you blinked, still distracted by the floating rain. There was a what? He had to  _ what _ ? The more time passed, the more sure you were of the idea that you were having a psychotic breakdown and the man in front of you was insane. Or that this entire situation was a dream and that you had passed out on the side of the road after all. You pinched yourself slightly and winced. It certainly hurt like real life. Either way, you wanted to leave.

“Okay,” you said faintly, stepping back from him slowly and reaching to grab your bag. You fumbled with it and scrambled back, trying to look calm while doing so. “I see now, it all makes sense. Of course, this is completely logical.”

The man relaxed as you said that, a tenseness in his shoulders you hadn’t noticed before dissipating. “You do?” He asked eagerly. “Lovely that you agree, you can call me Taeyong! So you know why I’m here? Of course you know the rules then! If you need me just say my name-“

Taeyong stopped short as you turned around and ran away from him, sprinting out of sight. “Wait!” He called after you, his focus on the rain gone and it pelted down again. If you heard him, you paid no heed. “It’s not safe,” he shouted. “Come back!” But you were gone within seconds, swallowed up by the rain. Scowling, he let out a snort of disdain at what had just happened.

“Well,” Ten’s voice could be heard as he sauntered up to Taeyong, smirking. The Djinn had evidently been watching from afar and only showed himself now, the rain not wetting a hair of him. “That went beautifully. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mortal run away quite so quickly. Perhaps next time, maybe not do something that’ll make the poor girl think she’s insane within the first five seconds of meeting each other.”

“Shut up,” Taeyong snapped, stomping away, not caring about the rain pouring onto him, umbrella abandoned. He didn’t need the mortal tool anyway. “This would’ve been so much simpler during earlier times, when mortals were more aware of our presence. I’m just surprised the demon hasn’t killed her yet, she’s so gods damned foolish. She’ll probably kill herself without any help from the demon by accident. It took forever for me to track her too, for some reason. It’s like she’s got a spell on her or something on her that’s keeping her from being spotted and giving her some sort of dumb luck, maybe a medallion of some kind. Most of the time human’s would’ve been dead by now considering it’s been a few weeks. That demon that’s latched onto her would’ve drained her body by now, no wonder it’s causing so much chaos in my neighbourhood. It’s probably starving.”

“Didn’t take you for one who’d be upset over the misfortune of a demon, Tae.” Ten hummed.

“I’m  _ not _ .” Taeyong snarled. “I could care less about them provided they leave me alone. I just hate dealing with humans and their stupidity.” He sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose.”This whole incident reminds me why I’ve avoided them for the past three centuries now. They’re intolerable and don’t live long enough to be able to use any of their intelligence when they’ve finally gained enough of it. One of the reasons I hate interacting with them-- it’s like dealing with children.”

“Oh, you’re too harsh on them, you’ve always hated them ever since that one outsmarted you, oh, twenty-two centuries ago. I have very fond memories of you praising humans and their ability to grow and grasp things easily. In fact, was it not you who said--”

“Yes, yes-- “ _ Mortals are indeed some of the wisest and intelligent beings on this earth ,capable of growing and maturing at a faster rate than any immortale-- _ ” I know what I said.” Taeyong grouched. “I said that when I was five hundred years old though. I was a child. That’s my excuse, I was wrong.”

“No, I don’t think you were,” Ten countered. “True, no mortal today will have as much experience or knowledge as you or I but that doesn’t mean they are children. Once they are grown they are adults in their own right, capable of their own decisions and dealing with the reality they were given. They are able to govern themselves Taeyong, they are able to hold themselves accountable and you know that this is true. And with the life that they have, how else do you expect them to react except for the way that the girl did?” He shook his head. “Truthfully Taeyong, I think you just feel a disconnect from them because you’ve yet to find one that bonds to you like--”  
“If you’re going to say who I think you are, stop it now.” Taeyong snapped and Ten held up his hands.

“I”m just saying, solitude did you no good. You’re not disconnected from just humans now the other  _ inmortales  _ have noticed. You’ve distanced yourself from the rest of us as well. Perhaps the vitality of humans will serve you well.”

Taeyong scoffed jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing-- are you worried for me Ten?”

But there was no joking response from the Djinn that Taeyong had expected. Only solemn eyes as Ten replied, “Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unedited. Yes there is a literal depression demon that we are dealing with. In case you don't know, I love symbolism and other fancy writing stuff

**Author's Note:**

> yes, here I am, posting a fic without having finished my other one. This is a bit of a hell project and I've got it mostly written (I swear, same for my other one) I just really had to get this out online. Unedited ish. Hope you're intrigued!


End file.
